Killing them Dead in No More Heroes 2

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We play Travis Touchdown's latest murder-fest -- more polished and crazier than its predecessor.

By Matt Casamassina

At the Penny Arcade Expo 2009, which begins Friday in downtown Seattle, Washington, Ubisoft will premiere the first fully playable demo of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for Wii. But because the publisher adores IGN's readership -- it told me you're all really great -- it slipped me an early copy of the preview alongside more than nine minutes of revealing never-before-seen gameplay footage, fresh screens and an amazing new trailer straight from the director of the game, Suda 51 himself. So if you hate words, I suggest you gorge yourself on all the new media because it speaks for itself -- unlike Suda, whose voice in today's new behind-the-scenes featurette is decidedly suspect and one-hundred percent bad ass. That bad ass part, by the way, is something the game shares in common.

Just in case you're new to this series, here's a very brief primer. You play as Travis Touchdown, a self-absorbed murderer who takes his beam katana and embarks upon a quest to become the world's top assassin -- by killing the world's other assassins, of course. The original Heroes, set to the backdrop of a fictional city called Santa Destroy, oozed cinematic style and remains one of Wii's most violent games. Despite some technical issues, particularly with the presentation of the sandbox-style overworld, the offbeat and colorful action game has achieved cult status.

The harshest critique I can make of the No More Heroes 2 demo is that it's over too quickly. It really is just a snippet of gameplay styles -- a glance at a typical combat scenario and then a glimpse of a boss fight before it all comes to an abrupt end. Indeed, if you watch today's trailer, embedded in this very article because it's so damned convenient, you'll spot details not even hinted at in the accompanying gameplay videos. For example, the fact that many of the daily job missions from the first title have been converted into spectacularly old-school 2D games sure to please the retro fan in all of us. Although the open world nature of the first title has not been sacrificed, Touchdown will no longer need to run through it to collect coconuts to gain money; this takes place in a classic 2D game, alongside ones that allow him to shoot, race and even prepare food as a chef.

The combat stage throws Travis into a few fights against just as many enemy types and the controls will feel largely familiar to those of you who played the first game. You maneuver the antihero about the world with the nunchuk's analog stick. The C button centers the camera and Z button locks onto enemies. When you've got a lock, you'll notice now a circular field of blueish squares around foes and as you slice and dice with your weapons, the squares change color to red, revealing the deteriorating nature of enemies. When all the squares have gone red, an on-screen gestural icon will appear and you can execute your bloody finishing moves. Since Touchdown is often attacked by two or three foot soldiers simultaneously -- the AI is noticeably improved -- you can cycle between your lock-ons by tapping the Z button, which works adequately most of the time. You can duck and roll in any direction with the respective positions of the D-Pad, which is useful for dodging projectile-based attacks.

When you go on the offensive, it's no joke. Developer Grasshopper Manufacture has expanded upon the already fast and intuitive fight system created for the original game. Simply tap the A button and Touchdown will swing away with his trusty beam katana. Tap the B-trigger and he'll kick and punch. You can very satisfyingly string together katana and melee combos -- two or three swipes of your beam and then a swift kick to the chest will send an enemy crashing into a wall. It feels great. If you deplete a fighter's energy and then go in with your beam, the aforementioned kill gestures will appear and you'll find a variety of death moves, from cutting goons in diagonal halves to beheading them or even severing all of their limbs in bloody displays. Travis will yell, "You're weak!" and "You're a joke!" as foes scream "Help me, boss!" before being dismembered in bloody sprays of gore.